Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020

Tsunami risk

Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea / Tahiti & French Polynesia

Lonely Planet's guidebook to French Polynesia does not say a word about tsunamis. Is French Polynesia immune for some reason (the presence of coral reefs, perhaps)? Or does the risk exist but there is no warning system, so let's just hope for the best?
Thanks

Tsunamis have hit French Polynesia in the past, only caused by earthquakes far away though (Chile, Japan, Hawaii, even Aleutian Islands). Therefore there was always ample time (hours if not even days) for warnings and precautionary measures. The risk of a Tsunami is always low and in French Polynesia it is well manageable too.

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It's right on the edge of the pacific plate 'ring of fire' and has a lot of earth tremors but none of those seem to create Tsunamis... There is a lot of underwater mountains etc around the ring due to all the Volcanoes etc and I assume they dissipate any Tsunamis that come in?

I don't know but I lived in different islands around the South Pacific for 12 years and never experienced a Tsunami.

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